Fade away. They don't last the long haul. They're not strong till the end.
And so they drop out of reading the Bible, of church attendance. You see them and then you don't see them. Joseph said to his brothers when he told them who he was and he had the keys to the corn in the middle of the famine, he said, go back with this good news and tell the rest of the family.
But then he gave this admonishment. Genesis 45, see that you fall not out of the way on your journey back. One translation said, don't get in an argument among yourselves and fail to find your way home with all this good news.
On your journey home, don't get in arguments and fall out with one another, but take heed to yourself. I want to encourage everyone under the sound of my voice today to take heed to yourself. Don't live loose. Be careful what you look at, what you listen to, what you give your heart to. Take heed to yourself.
Don't get loose with your standards, with your morality. It's so easy to just begin to erase the lines and just begin to live looser and looser. And before you know it, there's no difference between the old you and the new you. Jesus said, watch. I thought about what do we need to watch?
Number one, we need to watch our words. The W in the word watch stands for words. Words are powerful things. Words can destroy or words can uplift. Words can build up or words can tear down.
In Mark chapter 11, Jesus said, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be removed and cast into the sea. Shall not doubt in his heart, but believe that the things that he saith shall come to pass. He shall have whatsoever things he saith.
He keeps emphasizing it's important what you say. It's important what comes out of your mouth. Watch your words.
Proverbs 18 and 21 said the power of death and life are in your tongue. And you'll eat the fruit thereof, it goes on to say. In other words, if you talk death, if you talk disaster, If you talk defeat, if you talk depression, that is the seeds.
Every word is a seed and it's going forth and creating the future. And he said, the world that you will walk into, the future that you will walk into is being determined by the words that you speak. You can speak death or you can speak life.
You can speak depression or you can speak joy. You can speak hopelessness or you can speak faith. And it's up to you. Death and life are in the watch your mouth. words.
Number one, watch the words that come your way from the devil. I'm telling you now that Satan will get in your head and tell you things that are not of God. That's why Jesus turned to Simon Peter and he said, the things that you are speaking are from the devil. Get thee behind me, Satan.
I'm telling you that you have to watch the words that come from the devil. Words like, just give up. Words like, what's the use? Words like, you're never going to get free.
It's never going to. I promise you that the Holy Spirit, if you have an addiction or bondage or some major issue in your life and it's destroying your life, the Holy Spirit will never tell you you're never going to get free. That is a voice of a demon spirit that says, and it's straight from hell and you need to recognize it and watch.
Those words and say, you're not coming in here. I have another report. I have a report that says I'm loved by God, that He shed His blood for my deliverance.
Watch the words that come from the devil. Watch the words that come your way from other people. They can captivate you in inferiority.
torment you and defeat you and turn a beautiful day into a terrible day, all because of the words that somebody speaks to you. You don't have to make your ears a garbage can. Watch the words that come to you from other people.
And lastly, watch the words that come out of your own mouth. We are to speak words of life. We are to speak words of faith.
We are to speak words that agree. with God. We are to speak what God's Word says over our families and over our lives and over our bodies and over our pain and over our hurt.
Jesus said my words are spirit and they are life. And if you're going to watch your life, you're going to have to watch your words. Watch your words.
Secondly, watch your attitude. Watch your attitude. Just because bad things happen doesn't mean you need to be ticked off all the time.
Satan has this plan to not let you get saved. But if you get saved, he immediately opts to plan B to make you miserable. I'm saying to you, when it comes to children, more is caught than taught. They're going to catch your attitude.
And the attitude that you have toward God, toward worship, toward His house, toward life in general. If you have a positive attitude, they're going to face life with a positive attitude. And you can be down. Paul said, I think myself happy.
I think myself happy. You have to have an up. attitude.
We've got too many children that are not dreaming big dreams because they're around a negative attitude all the time. You can't do it. You'll never be anything. Watch your attitude. Refuse to be a negative, angry, upset, mean person.
Nothing worse than a bunch of mean, angry Christians. Have a good attitude. Have a positive attitude. Look over at somebody and say, you need to smile.
Your face is bothering me right now. Just tell them, you need to smile. Don't you want to get saved and go to heaven with me throughout all eternity?
No. The young people think all the fun people go to hell. Amen.
There ought to be some Christians that have such an uplifting, wonderful attitude that they want to be like them. They're dreamers. They're achievers.
Come on, somebody. Get up in your attitude. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Let's just take a praise break and have an attitude correction right now.
What was I discouraged about? What was I depressed about? This is the day the Lord has made.
I need to rejoice. I'm alive. I'm healthy. What else matters?
Number three, watch your temptations. If you're going to watch your life, you've got to watch your temptations, because they're coming. I really felt a quickening in my heart about this point.
All of us are tempted. One man was 80 years old, and a young kid went up to him and said, I just want to ask you, I'm really battling temptation. He said, how old is it before I won't be tempted?
He said, I don't know, I'm just 80. There's a lot of people that... You've got to understand that as long as you're in this body, even after a 21-day fast, temptation is still real. You're going to be tempted to quit, you're going to be tempted to sin, you're going to be tempted to look at stuff you shouldn't look at, listen to stuff you shouldn't listen to, tempted to gamble, tempted to have illicit sex, tempted by drugs, tempted by alcohol. The Lord told me to tell you, watch your temptations.
They can cost you everything. There's something going on in West Texas that have baffled the scientists. And they said what it is, is there have been more rattlesnake bites in West Texas in the last few years than in decades.
And they cannot figure out why. especially in remote places just where farmers are. More farmers are being bitten. Experienced people with the country there, the barren kind of hot area of Texas, are being bitten by rattlesnakes, and they couldn't figure it out, and they said they believe this is what has happened.
Wild hogs were imported from Europe many, many decades ago, and those wild hogs have overbred, and they're everywhere. And wild hogs have bad vision, but they have tremendous... ability to hear and feel vibrations. And they have developed an immunity against rattlesnakes, and so they eat rattlesnakes as one of their favorite meals.
And so what has happened is over time, they believe that when the hogs would hear a rattlesnake go off, it would immediately be turned to go to that rattle. And the snakes have gotten smarter, and they've stopped rattling. And you don't get bit until it's too, you know, before you'd get a buzz that would go off and a buzzer, you know, from the rattles and you'd know back up.
But now there's no warning. If you get close enough to a snake now, he's not going to rattle, he's going to bite. And I thought, what a message. Sometimes we get to thinking, the Bible said in Ecclesiastes 10, that if the hedge is broken down, the snake will come in and bite. And sometimes we get to stomping hedges, meaning standards and convictions, and stomping them down and say, I didn't hear any rattle of a snake, I didn't hear any rattle or go off, oh, I'm going to go over there and do this too, and look, nothing happened to me, and I'm going to go to that...
party and I'm going to get drunk and I'm going to sleep with that person. I'm going to look at that filthy website. I'm going to do this. And we get to thinking nothing's happening. No lightning bolt is hitting me.
I'm getting by with it. But here, maybe what it is, is the snake is so smart that the reason you don't hear the rattle is he's waiting until you keep stepping more and more and more. And when he sinks his fangs in you, it'll be too late to try to fix it then.
And the Lord sent me to tell you today, watch your temptations. Sin is still sin. Death is still death. Even if it's not rattling, wrong is still wrong. And you may feel like nothing's happening and you're doing it and you're fine and you can control it, but if it's not rattling, that doesn't mean it's not death.
deadly it may be. That serpent is so wise that it's just pulling you further and further and further. And here's the good news.
Jesus Christ was tempted. He has overcome Satan. He has overcome the devil. He has overcome every addiction.
And by his blood, you can be free. I want you to praise God right there. And I'm going to finish this message. Everybody, how many of you believe the blood of Jesus is greater than any temptation?
Please hear a man who has pastored for 25 years plus. Sin will destroy. It thrills you and then it kills you. It fascinates and then it assassinates.
Nobody gets by with it. Sooner or later, the serpent will bite if the hedge is broken down. Watch your temptations. Number four.
Watch your character. The C in watch stands for character. Character matters. Character. When you leave your bills unpaid.
Character. Well, Jehovah Jireh is paying my rent. No, he's not. Whoever you're renting that home from has not got a check in six months, and it's not Jehovah Jireh paying it. Well, I'm just going to write a faith check.
That's not faith. That's a felony. character.
Abimelech, the Bible said, was a king and he saw Sarah, Abraham's wife. I'm almost finished, but listen, he saw Abraham's wife. He had a harem full of beautiful women, the most beautiful women in the country.
And he saw Sarah and she was 99 years old and he started lusting and saying, I got to have her. She was 99 years old. How many of you want that lotion?
Come on, just be honest. 99 and she was hot. 99 and she's turning heads. 99. Turn to your wife right now and say, that's what you look like, baby. That's you.
That's you. And you know what God said to Abimelech? He took her.
Pitiful Abraham lied and said, she's my sister. And he took her and he's going into her bedroom to assault her and molest her. And God spoke to him and said, if you touch her, you're a dead man. And then he made this comment. He said, I know you did this in the integrity of your heart and I withheld you from sinning because even if you mess up, if you have integrity in your heart, God will help you work things out.
It's a big deal. Lastly, watch your household. The most valuable thing that we have in this world is our children, our husband, our wife, our loved ones.
They're worth more than silver. They're worth more than gold. They're worth more than any acclaim that the world could ever, any title you could ever earn.
There's nothing more precious than children. Therese and Courtney and Carissa and Caroline and Connor and Drake, nothing. And we're called to watch our household, determined that your children will be fruitful in the kingdom of God and hell will not have them in Jesus'name. Genesis 14 and 14, Abraham's family was kidnapped and he sought God and God said, go pursue and bring them back. You shall bring them back.
David at Ziglag lost his family. And God spoke to him and said, Go after your family and you shall recover them all. I feel like telling somebody that if you will believe according to Acts 16, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everybody say this with me. And you will be saved, you and your household. Does anybody believe that this morning? Does anybody claim that? over your children, over your grandchildren.
I know hell will come and assault and do all it, but if we're watchful and we're praying, there's nothing more powerful than the blood of Jesus Christ and a praying mother and father. And I'm saying to you, be watchful. When that boy comes to pick that daughter up, you be there and you open the door and just watch him. Don't smile at him, just look at him like this. There's a man in this church that had an amazing month during the fast.
He was on the 21-day fast, a very faithful member of this church, and a personal friend, and I have his permission to share this, and just an outstanding businessman, very prosperous in his business. And he was contacted by a national corporation that if I named them, it's a household name and every one of you would know that name. And they heard about this man and all that he's done and all that he is doing.
And the internet. International president of the whole corporation flew in on a private jet, picked him up and took him to a resort area, sort of tried to wine and dine, I guess you would say, and offered him the vice president. presidency of this international corporation, starting salary per year, $5 million per year, starting salary and all of the benefits that go with that. And this man who has beautiful children, beautiful wife, beautiful family, is on the 21 day fast. He said, just pray that I'll do the right thing.
And he said, I thank God. This is what he told me. He said, I thank God for the 21-day fast. He said, I don't believe it was by chance that I was on the 21-day fast.
And he said, I went back. to the lodge after a day of all this offer after offer after offer. And he said, I'm laying there in the bed and I'm fasting.
My stomach is growling. He said, I looked up at the ceiling and he said, it was just like... The voice of God came booming through that room and saying, you can choose, I'll bless you, but my perfect will is for you to be with your family in the church where you are. But I'll bless you. He said, I never have felt such peace come over me.
He said, I thought about my little son, and I thought about my beautiful daughters, and I thought about my wife, and I thought about my church. And he said, there's some things money cannot buy. Money cannot buy a family. Money cannot buy a good church. Money cannot buy a family being raised in truth.
Money cannot buy a happy marriage. Sometimes, we need to be watchful. Not every opportunity is God. I've said it before, I'll say it again if you don't get anything else. Never move for money.
Now, if God tells you to move, then go, but don't let money be the deciding factor. Let the voice of the Lord be the deciding factor, because there are ramifications that you cannot see. I'll tell you this, I told this man that you will not give up houses, lands, or anything for His namesake.
And He not reward you a hundredfold in this life and in the life to come. That's Jesus'words. And how many of you know to see your family in heaven is a hundredfold in this life and in the life to come? Music We live in a small village in the mountains.
It's a very bad place. It's a very bad place. The water is very cold. The water is very cold. Guys, we slept all night in the same room.
As a business owner, I know what it is to start out small. I remember not having anything. And I remember I had to take care of my wife and my baby.
And I wanted them to have the best. And I feel people have talents down there and they don't have opportunity. When I saw the picture of the marketplace, I think that is one of the things that even today sticks in my mind.
Because I saw a place where people could go and I could see them trying to barter and trade and sell something so that they could have their needs met for their family and their babies. God can bless them. Just like he has blessed me. So this marketplace will affect people's lives forever.
It will produce jobs. That's why I love the marketplace. It's food for life. Sustainability.
Helping Haitians to help. I really like the concept of pouring in to the marketplace, to that seed, so it can grow. Everyone is happy to walk the market.
Thank you for your work. As an update, we've sent another $190,000 to the Miracle Marketplace in Haiti. Thank you so much for those of you who have responded to the Mission Food for Life. This initiative to build the $1 million Miracle Market in Haiti is going to provide over 2,600 new jobs.
And Haiti will have its first ever Christian Marketplace. But we are only halfway to our goal. Would you please consider helping us this month build the foundations for the Marketplace?
It's a $100,000 phase. and you can be a part of laying a foundation of faith in Haiti. When you give this month, we have a special gift to send to you, our new foundation series, three inspiring messages, which will help you build your faith and family values upon God's word.
We are still receiving stories of life change from hundreds of thousands of you who joined us on this year's 21 Day Fast. Please join us on Facebook or Twitter and share your story.